The Integral Being: A New Path to Personal Growth and Meaningful Living

Yaryura-Tobias defines the balanced personality as one in harmony with self, family, society and the cosmos. Sometimes eloquent and searching, at other times obvious and preachy, this book is most helpful in suggesting how individuals can make choices to preserve their hope, creativity and ideals in a shattered, dehumanized world. The author, a psychiatrist, reflects on his experiences in his native Argentina, where he helped patients other doctors had deemed incurable, and in New York City, where he practices bio-behavioral therapy. ""Integral beings'' are people who keep up a dialogue with spouses, read newspapers with skepticism, fight pseudodemocracy and meditate regularly. The author dispenses down-to-earth advice on everything from choosing a mate to the decision whether to have children. (September 25)